Food hubs may be formed locally, Farm Bill funding could help

Chico >> A press conference on funding through the 2014 Farm Bill was brief, but for Noelle Ferdon, it was affirming and encouraging for work she has done over the past five years.

Ferdon is director of local food systems at the Northern California Regional Land Trust, and has been working diligently to organize a local food hub.

A food hub, often a cold storage unit, can help small to medium-sized growers who want to expand markets but don't have the money or need for a large facility.

For example, if a farmer grows perishable food, they have the option to sell to a large distributor. Yet, to sell locally, the supply may be needed a little at a time, and storage could stretch out the selling season.

Also, several growers of the same type of food could store their food together until a large buyer is ready for the product – a large local institution for example.

Local farmers have said they are eager to get signed up, but organization is the key. Crops are seasonal, so a producer would only need the storage until the crops sold.

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack talked with reporters Wednesday, and Ferdon was able to listen to the call.

Within the Farm Bill is money available to regional groups or individuals for programs like Ferdon has envisioned.

In the past, USDA program for farmers markets and similar activities were only given a $5 million each pot of money for which to compete. But now $30 million is available each year to support "local food systems," including food hubs.

With the work that Ferdon and her group have done over the past several years, she is hopeful that a future grant application will be successful.

"I think we have a head start," she said, with excitement.

"Our region has laid the foundation and can show we have the capacity to keep building this local food system."

What was especially exciting, Ferdon said, was to hear much of the "language and terms" used by Secretary Vilsack were the same as the words she has been using for five years.

"I was joking, but half serious – we've been shouting this from the mountaintops for years.

"For us, in this region, it's really promising."

Vilsack confirmed what Ferdon believes: that "food hubs create jobs."

A study from Michigan State University estimates that up to 20 jobs can be created through a food hub, and up to $4 million in revenue, she said.

Over the years, Ferdon has joined forces with Jacob Brimlow, in the Department of Agriculture at Chico State University. A research project took place last fall to ask local food producers what barriers kept them from selling their products locally. Brimlow is also interviewing wholesale buyers to gather more information to build local markets.

Ferdon said she is eager to continue the effort, and hopes to tap into some of that federal grant funding.